Wittersham Road railway station
Appearance
Wittersham Road | |
---|---|
Station on Ashford, Kent England | |
Coordinates | 51°01′38″N 0°39′36″E / 51.027249°N 0.660072°E |
Grid reference | TQ866286 |
Platforms | 1 |
History | |
Original company | Rother Valley Railway |
Pre-grouping | Kent and East Sussex Railway |
Post-grouping | Southern Region of British Railways |
Key dates | |
2 April 1900[1] | Opened |
4 January 1954 | Closed to passengers |
12 June 1961[2] | Goods services withdrawn |
4 June 1977 | Services resumed |
16 June 1978 | Officially reopened |
Wittersham Road is a
railway station on the Kent and East Sussex Railway. It is located to the north-east of the level crossing on Maytham Road which links the Kentish villages of Rolvenden and Wittersham. Having served the area for over sixty years, the station closed for regular passengers in 1954 and completely in 1961. It was later rebuilt and reopened in 1977 by the Kent and East Sussex Railway
heritage organisation.
History
Wittersham Road was one of the original stations on the 12 miles (19 km) line opened by the Rother Valley Railway between
sidings on the Down side facing Tenterden
.
As with the station buildings at
corrugated iron structure was provided at Wittersham Road, but this time lacking a platform awning.[5] Unlike however all the Rother Valley stations, the station building at Wittersham Road was built at a right-angle to the platform.[6] According to a 1948 timetable, the station was a compulsory stop for all trains from at least 1929 and possibly even earlier.[7]
Between February 1941 and August 1944, a rail-mounted howitzer named SM Cleeve, belonging to the No. 4 (Suffolk) Super-Heavy Railway Battery RA, was stationed at Wittersham Road. Weighing 86 tonnes (85 long tons; 95 short tons) and capable of firing 9.2 inches (230 mm) shells, it was only fired once, causing all the windows in the station to break.[8] Three GWR Dean Goods Class locomotives were on hand to move the howitzer.[9]
Present day
The
MP on 16 June 1978.[11] A water tower from Shrewsbury Abbey on Colonel Stephens' Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway was later erected on site in April 1980.[12]
Services
Preceding station | Heritage railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rolvenden | Kent and East Sussex Railway | Northiam | ||
Disused railways | ||||
Rolvenden | British Railways Southern Region Kent and East Sussex Railway |
Northiam |
References
- ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 253.
- ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
- ISBN 0-7134-0490-6.
- ^ Course, E., p. 41.
- ISBN 978-0-85361-516-3.
- ISBN 978-0-86093-608-4.
- ISBN 978-1-85895-149-2.
- ISBN 978-1-85306-803-4.
- ISBN 978-0-906520-21-5.
- ^ Oppitz, L., p. 139.
- ^ Garrett, S., p. 93.
- ^ Garrett, S., p. 95.